Tiny Blossoms
by ModestMoon2818
Summary: Sakura is turned into her four year old self in a freak accident. With team 7 tasked with looking after her and the rest of Konoha 11 researching how to change her back, she is in for an adventure. Especially when her past catches up to her.
1. Chapter 1

(I don't own Naruto unfortunately, he and the other characters (apart from my own) belong to the amazing creator)

Chapter One

"Hell no." I whispered at the reflection in the mirror, too shocked to raise my voice my voice. The girl in the mirror was four years old, bruises littered her cheeks and collar bones, dull green eyes stared back at me from beneath tangled pink hair. "Fuck."

It was comical in a way, just moments ago I had been pouring over scrolls and tablets full of ancient Justus when a weird tingling swept through my body, everything had seemed to get bigger- or perhaps I should say, I got smaller.

I frowned at the reflection, my chakra was barely accessible and memories u had long supressed started flashing through my mind.

"Sakura-Chan?" Tsunade-sama's voice sounded muffled behind the bathroom door, "I need you to come and sort Naruto and Uchiha out. They're fighting again." My blonde haired teacher grumbled sounding annoyed and bored at the same time.

I rolled my eyes, ever since we brought Sasuke back (surprisingly he had come without much complaint) he and Naruto had been arguing over little things. Much like they had when we younger.

"Tsunade-Sama, I think we have bigger problems." I said as stood on my tiptoes to reach the handle. I'm pretty sure that if she wasn't such a skilled ninja, the blonde would have tripped over her own feet at the sight of me.

There was a beat of silence before she screamed "WHAT THE HELL?"

"I don't know, I was studying the scrolls you gave me and, well, the next thing I know I'm four years old again." I grimaced as the words sounded babyish and unrefined.

"How long do you think this will last?" She asked, her honey eyes scanning the papers.

I shrugged, "I don't know."

"I guess we need to round up the others and explain what's going on. Even though you're twenty you're technically a minor now and we will need someone to keep an eye on you at all times." She crouched down, "Look on the Brightside you're a cute ki- what are these bruises?" She asked suddenly her eyes scanning the dark marks on my face.

"Can I explain when everyone's gathered? I don't feel like talking about it more than I need to." As I said the words the memory of a hand coming towards me at speed flashed behind my eyes.

Tsunade nodded her face grim, she picked me up and with a few protests from four year old me she flashed to her office.

(A/N I know its short but hopefully the other chapters will be longer)


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

No more than half an hour later my friend's piled into the Hokage's office. Sasuke and Naruto were glaring at each other and the rest of Konoha 11 stood as far away as possible. I watched this from my spot on the desk, swinging my short legs and sucking on a strawberry lollipop.

"You asked to see us, Hokage-Sama?" Hinata Hyuga asked, her lavender eyes trained on the blonde who rested next me. Hinata had become more confident over the years, losing her stutter and standing up for herself more. She along with Ino Yamanaka and TenTen were my best girl-friends.

"Who's the kid?" Kiba asked before Tsunade could open her mouth.

"I was about to explain." The older woman growled, "The 'kid' as you so pleasantly referred to her as is Sakura Haruno. Close your mouth Naruto and let me explain-"She said when Naruto opened his mouth, "She was studying some scrolls for me and there was a bit of freak accident resulting in what you see here."

"Hi guys." I smiled around the lollypop.

"Is this some sort of trick?" Sasuke grunted his dark eye's narrowed.

"Unfowtunaly not." I frowned as I stumbled of the word, "I've been transformed into a four year old."

"Why are you bruised?" Shikamaru asked, a dark eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, I was wondering that." Ino said coming closer, a serene smile on her face, "It looks almost like a hand." She tilted her head to the side inspecting me closer.

"How long are you going to be like this?" Naruto asked, he was surprisingly calm.

"We don't now, could be a few hours or a few months. Your mission is going to be to find out that information as well as looking after Sakura."

"But she's capable of looking after herself." Neji said, his normally hard voice soft, "it's Sakura we're talking about, and she can handle anything."

"Thanks Neji, but I have hardly and chakwa and I'm not able to do things I normally can." I said smiling at the stoic man. I heard two distinct female 'awe's and looked over at Hinata and TenTen who seemed to be going gaga over the smile I gave Neji.

Suddenly Ino let out a gasp, "You said you were turned into you four year old self?" I nodded, "Is this exactly what you looked like back then, on this day do you think?"

"It's a likely explanation." Shika said coming closer to me, "Do you remember this day at all?"

"What the date?" I asked, still coming to terms with the childishness of my voice.

"20th of July." Choji said looking out the window. I shook my head.

"To be honest, my days were much the same when I was younger, before I came to Konoha." This seemed to take everyone by surprise.

"You mean you weren't always here?" Naruto asked, "But I remember you, the first time we met you were age about five."

"But do any of you remember me younger than five?"

Everybody shook their heads and Sasuke 'hn'd, "See, that's because I only arrived here when I was five."

"You mentioned earlier that you would explain the bruises, Sakura-chan." Tsunade said softly. I whimpered slightly not fully ready to explain.

"Erm well, I didn't have the best childhood before I came here. Can I leave it at that for now?"

"Did somebody hurt you?" TenTen asked, her voice had taken on a hard edge, "is that how you got the bruises?" I nodded not looking at anyone's face, I could feel the pity radiating of most of them.

"Why did you never say anything?" Ino asked looking hurt.

"I just wanted to forget. This is what I looked like on a good day." Tsunade growled lowly at this.

"Lift your shirt up." She said. I looked at her shocked, "I want to see how far the bruising goes."

I nodded, my pink hair bouncing around my face. I lifted the shirt up, luckily my usual outfit had shrunk with me and I wasn't in what I actually wore when I was younger, I grimaced as I remembered the ratty grey dress that was my uniform.

I heard Naruto suck in a breath as more of my skin was revealed, it was mottled blue, black and yellow. Old bruises. Sasuke's eyes narrowed at the sight.

"Sakura, I'm going to heal-"Tsunade said lifting a glowing hand up.

"No." I said pulling away, an irrational thought passing through my mind, _if she healed me then_ _ **he**_ _would hurt me more,_ "No!" I screamed as the hand came closer, I wriggled away only to be caught be Ino.

"Let me go!" I shrieked, panic had set in and all I could see was faces I had hoped to forget. A cruel smile and molten silver eyes staring down at me, a scream ripped from my throat.

Suddenly strong arms wrapped around my small frame pulling me from Ino effortlessly "Shh, you're okay." Naruto's voice broke through the dark images of the man who had once tormented me, "You're safe, and no one's going to hurt you." He whispered soothing words to me and vaguely part me wondered how Naruto had become so good with children.

"What the hell was that?" I heard Kiba whisper harshly to Shino who had stood silently throughout the entire exchange. The boy shrugged.

"Her memories for this age are hitting her full force." The low baritone of Sasuke's voice echoed around the now quiet room.

"I want team seven to stay with her at all times. Tell this to Kakashi as well, the rest of you are to try and find a way to solve this problem. Dismissed." Tsunade said looking shaken.

"Hey Sakura-chan, want some ice-cream?" Naruto asked, "You can get whatever flavour you like."

"Ice-cream?" I asked, for a moment I was unsure what he was on about, it seemed I was starting to revert to how I was when I was actually four.

This was going to be… Interesting.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Kakashi-Sensei stood in the middle of Sasuke's living room looking slightly lost, we had just explained what had happened and it was taking him a few moments to adjust.

"So you keep slipping between acting like a four year old and acting you're age?" he asked his visible eye creased in confusion.

"Yup." I said from my place on Naruto's knee.

"And we've been ordered to look after you at all times." He asked, running a hand through his gravity defying silver hair, I just nodded, feeling my eyes droop. Part of me, the older part knew that I need to rest- it had been a hectic day and the small body that I was stuck in for an undetermined amount of time need rest. But the part of me that was _the four year old_ knew deep down that if I fell asleep bad things could happen.

One memory in particular came to mind, _"_ _Wake up!" I was being shaken by a man ten times my size. His arms were bulging and his eyes were dark, "I didn't say you could sleep yet, girl." His voice had taken on an eerie calm and I braced myself for the blow that was sure to come. A sharp cry left my lips and I winced. I wasn't supposed to make a sound. I had broken two rules already. The man's dark eyes glowed with wicked amusement._

 _My disobedience meant he was free to play now. And he was going to use his favourite toy._ _He picked up an ornate knife, its point glinted in the low light of the torches, its jewelled hilt was deceiving pretty. It would cut you and then it would heal you, leaving thin scars in its wake_

"You're okay." Kakashi's voice soothed, "Sasuke hurry up with that water."

"Anything I can do?" Naruto asked, worry lacing his tone. He felt useless, not knowing how to cope with the screaming girl.

"You could make up the spare room for her, she'll need somewhere to sleep." Sasuke said emerging from the kitchen, he eyed the blond boy carefully. He knew Naruto was finding it hard to cope with Sakura's predicament. Hell, he was too, Sasuke wasn't used to seeing the happy go lucky girl collapsing in a pile of body wracking screams and sobs. Sasuke handed the glass of water to Kakashi, watching as the older ninja tipped the glass to the little girl's mouth. Her sobs had stopped now and he could see her eyes moving rapidly behind their lids.

"What do you suppose happened to her?" He asked, normally he wouldn't speak this much but he had been coming out of his shell more and besides, Sasuke thought, Sakura was worth the effort.

Kakashi sighed, "I don't know. But I don't like that she never told us. She didn't even tell Ino and that girl has known her longer than anyone of us."

"What about her parents?" Naruto asked coming from the spare to sit next to Kakashi. The blond let himself play with the soft pink locks on the girls head.

"They were killed in action on a mission that went wrong." Kakashi said sadly.

"Oh, Sakura, what are we going to do with you?" Naruto asked, eyeing the bruised girl sadly. She refused to let anyone heal her.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door, startling the three men who had lapsed into an easy silence while watching Sakura's breathing even out.

"I'll get it." Sasuke said standing up, "Put her to bed." And just like that any emotions the last Uchiha had been showing were locked away.

"Hello, Uchiha-san." Hinata greeted when Sasuke opened the door, he nodded in response, and "I stopped by to see how Sakura-chan is."

"She just fell asleep." The stoic boy replied, but the lavender eyed girl saw his eyes stubborn. You didn't live with Neji and learn how to pick up small hints on how ice-boys were truly feeling.

The raven haired girl held up some bags, "I also brought some clothes and other things she might like." Sasuke felt like face-palming, He and Naruto had completely forgotten that Sakura had no other clothes that fit her, he was suddenly grateful to the Hyuga Heiress and he stepped aside to let her in.

"Hinata-Chan, what are you doing here?" Naruto asked when she walked into the living room.

She blushed and held up the bags, "Dropping some things of for Sakura-chan… may I see her?" She asked tentatively.

"Yeah, she just woke up but keeps dozing, she's exhausted due to a panic attack she had early." Kakashi said leaning against the doorway.

 _Poor thing,_ Hinata thought as she made her way into the room Sakura was occupying.

"Hina-Chan." A small voice said, Hinata smiled at the small girl who seemed almost lost in the pile of pillows that surrounded her.

"Hello Sakura-Chan." The older girl said, "I brought you some clothes. And a teddy I thought you might like." The pink haired girl's smile was interrupted by a yawn.

"Thank you, Hina-chan. I- I don't think I ever owned a toy before I came to Konoha." At this the raven haired girl's heart panged painfully and she was suddenly hugging her small friend close. Three males just stood and watched as the Hyuga Heiress dotted over Sakura.

"Well then, here you go." Hinata presented the stuffed animal with a regal manner, making Sakura giggle. The teddy was a medium sized black fox with bright green eyes and a silver tipped tail.

"He's so pretty." The little girl gasped, her tired eyes suddenly alight, "Thankyou Hina-chan, thank you so much."

"It's alright," Hinata said fondly, "Now you get some rest." She kissed the top of Sakura's pink head, an action she did so many times with her little sister it felt natural.

And so Sakura let herself drift of, her new fox clutched tightly to her chest as her four friends watched her with soft eyes.

(A/n I thought that Sakura's new teddy could be a mixture of team seven. The fox itself represents Naruto, the black fur is Sasuke, green eyes are Sakura and the silver tail is Kakashi.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this story J )


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

I woke up to the sound of a kettle whistling, it unnerved me because as a four year old I remembered waking up the either the sound of the wardens yells or one of my roommates shaking me awake gently. Slipping from the covers I clutched the stuffed fox Hinata had given me yesterday, he was fast become a familiar comfort. I noticed dimly that someone had changed me from the clothes I wore yesterday it an oversized shirt.

I padded out of the room and saw Sasuke leaning against the kitchen counter, a mug of tea in his hands.

"Morning." He greeted, his eyes taking in my mussed up hair, his dark gaze lingered on the bruises on my cheek before he smiled slightly. The sight took me by surprise, Sasuke Uchiha didn't smile, sure he smirked, but he never ever smiles.

I decided then and there that I would get him to smile more often, he looked, well, he looked nice.

"Do you want something to eat?" He asked, tilting his head to the side. If I was my normal age I would have pounced on him, he looked amazing, the shirt he wore clung just right and- no! Bad Sakura, you're 'four' remember, four year olds don't think like that.

"What-What do you have?" I asked cautiously, part of me was expecting him to turn around and laugh in my face saying something along the lines of _'_ _ha! As if I would actually give you food, scum like you don't deserve to eat!"_

I shook that thought from my head, no he wouldn't say that. Well maybe he would have in the past when he was a missing-nin but he'd come a long way since then, he'd started acting nicer towards people, he 'hn'd less and less and heck he just smiled at me again.

"I have some cereal, I've started keeping some here since the Dobe likes to come around anytime he wants."

"Cereal would be nice, thank you." I said padding up to him. An idea popped into my head, I wonder, how far will they go in treating me like a child?

I looked up at Sasuke with big green eyes. He seemed to be having an internal battle and then he bent down and picked me up. With me situated on his hip he began rummaging with one hand for my breakfast. _Where's a camera when you need one?_

Just imagine what THE Sasuke Uchiha, the Avenger and ex missing-nin, looked like holding a small pink haired girl on his hip while wrestling a cereal box.

A flash went off, followed by an evil cackle "This is too good to be true!" Sasuke whirled around (watch it buddy, I'm precious cargo) and we were facing a ginning Naruto holding up a camera.

"What are you doing with that?" Sasuke asked dangerously low.

"I thought we could take some pictures of Sakura, I mean she obviously has no pictures of her childhood before coming here and I thought we could make some nice memories for her." His voice was so sincere and I felt tears gather in my eyes.

"You're so sweet Naruto!" I cried, holding my arms out for him to take me from Sasuke. The blond complied and hugged me close. I was too busy saying how sweet he was to notice the smug grin Naruto sent Sasuke.

"Sakura, you need to eat and get dressed, we have things to do today." Sasuke said, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"But I have no clothes to wear." I said, my voice small. Naruto grinned down at me,

"Sure you do, Hinata-chan dropped some off for you yesterday remember?" when he said it I remembered Hinata mentioning clothes. A sly smile appeared on my face, _it was about time Naruto notices how Hinata feels about him,_

"Naruto, we need to say thank you to Hinata-Chan!" I exclaimed, bouncing in his arms (man it felt nice to act like a kid).

"How would we do that?" My blond friend asked frowning slightly, I heard Sasuke scoff and I whipped my head round to glare at him before turning back to Naruto.

"You should take her on a date!" I cooed happily, enjoying it tremendously when Naruto turned beat read.

"I-I don't think she'll want to-""Of course she will!" Interrupted, "Right, Sasuke-kun?" I asked Sasuke using the childish nickname. Something flitted across the dark-haired boy's features before he smirked,

"Sure she will. She's been crushing on you for year's dobe."

"Really?" Naruto asked, suddenly serious, "Don't be messing with me Teme."

"Language, there is a child present!" Sasuke admonished, "And no, I'm not lying. She really does like you."

Had someone replaced Sasuke during the night? First he smiled, then he picked me up and now he was being sincere?

It was in that moment my stomach rumbled and both boys busied themselves in getting me ready.

I could get used to the attention.

After I had eaten and gotten dressed (I was wearing a light mint dress and some ballet flats that Hinata had given me) we headed out for the day. I was unsure of where we were going as neither of the boys seemed to want to tell me. "Where's Kakashi-sensei?" I asked, I had convinced Naruto and Sasuke to swing me between them. Both were turning bright red as we walked down the street.

This was because civilians where whispering. Whispering things like "They must be siblings, how sweet" and "Oh, good for them! Showing of their daughter, must have adopted her together. Bless look how happy she is."

One elderly woman had even come up to us and congratulated Naruto and Sasuke on raising a 'perfect little angle' in the face 'prejudice and injustice'… even I sweat dropped at this, was she related to Rock Lee by any chance?

"He's around somewhere, you know what he's like." Naruto laughed, smiling politely at a gushing couple.

""Where are we going?" I asked, for what felt the hundredth time.

"Training grounds, you don't mind watching us train do you? We packed some stuff for you to do." Naruto said grinning down at me.

"As long as you don't kill each other." I frowned. Sasuke nudged me slightly making me look up at him,

"That's not how four year olds should be thinking." He was joking, I could tell by the quirk of his lips. In retaliation I stuck my tongue out at him, this gained a low chuckle. Okay add laughing to the 'things-to-make-Sasuke-do' list.

"Naruto, Sasuke-Kun!" Ino's voice rang out through the streets and both boys turned, effectively bringing us all to a halt, "Hey Sakura-chan." Ino smiled at me.

"Hey, Ino what's up?" Naruto asked,

"Well I noticed you were heading towards the training grounds and I assumed you needed to train, the girls and I could take Sakura for a few hours if you want." Ino motioned to TenTen and Hinata who were stood a little ways down the street, in front of the flower shop.

"Would you like that Sakura? It beats sitting around and watching us argue." Naruto said although his eyes were trained on Hinata. I smiled, partly because I would like to go with the girls and partly because my plan to get Hinata and Naruto together was working perfectly.

"Okay, here's the stuff we packed for her." Naruto handed Ino a small bag of crayons and a colouring bag, "Can I get a hug before we go?" he asked crouching down to my level.

"You realise that I'm not really a child, I know what its like to be an adult." I said, smiling slighty.

He pouted, "Let me have my fun." I sighed and wrapped my arms around him smiling slightly as he pecked my forehead.

"Hn." Was all Sasuke said before sweeping me up, giving a chaste kiss on the cheek, before plonking back on the pavement and walking away.

Okay, so that just happened. I blinked dazedly as I watched his retreating form.

"Oh and here's a camera, take plenty of pics, Sakura needs some nice memories!" Naruto called over his shoulder.

"Let's go have some fun." Ino smiled guiding me towards the girls.

So far the day was going great.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

I spoke to soon.

The day had been going great, the girls and I had been having the time of our lives. We visited the park, got some dango and were walking around market part of the village. All the while taking pictures.

TenTen was bargaining over some kunai and Ino was picking some fruit out, leaving Hinata and I sitting on a bench, chatting about idle things.

"Thank you again for the Fox." I grinned.

"Oh, it was no trouble. Have you named him yet?" Hinata asked, I nodded eagerly.

"I called him Mamoru!" I yelled happily.

"Protector? What a good choice." She smiled calmly.

"I didn't have a bad dream last night because of him." I said quietly, "I hope I don't have to stay like this for long. I feel so weak." I admitted sadly.

"Well Shikamaru-san and Shino are going through some of the scrolls today and tomorrow its Ino and Choji's turn. We'll find something, don't worry." The Hyuga girl reassured me.

It was then I felt it, something was wrong. Slowly I turned my head to the right, pretending I was gazing at the different stalls. There.

By the stall that was selling scarves and jewellery, I recognised him. Messy copper hair fell into midnight blue eyes, his face had never been a childish one- we hadn't had the luxury of being children- but now it was sharp and defined.

He was worried, even from this distance, after all this time, I could still read him. His eyes flicked from me to Hinata, she was looking the other way when I checked, smiling at an old man heading our way.

"Morning Hyuga-Hime." The man stuck up a conversation and I decided that if I was going to talk to him- I needed to talk to him- then I had to slip away now.

I slid of the bench and ducked into the shadows, my eyes trained on the russet head of my old friend.

I trailed him for a few minutes, we left the humming markets and headed towards the stream. No one would be around.

"Sakura-chan." His voice was deeper, but it held a soft edge.

"Ren-Kun." He started at my voice, the same quiet tones I had once spoken in were back and he seemed unprepared.

"You're four again." He stated, moving to sit on the ground. I stood awkwardly in front of him, "How?"

"I don't know, I was reading scrolls, funny thing is they had nothing to do with age Justus now that I think of it. " I frowned, how hadn't I noticed before, "Not that I'm not happy to see you but, why are you here? How are you here?"

He knew what I was on about, fifteen years ago we had escaped our tormentor, and we had lost each other in the chaos that ensued. I thought he was dead.

"I thought you were dead, Kura, I looked, I really did, but I couldn't find you."

"I tried to look," I said, "But I was found by Konoha ninja and brought here." I said bowing my head "I'm sorry."

"No!" He said suddenly, his voice bordering on a shout, "No, don't say sorry, I'm glad you're safe. When I heard about the Leaf Hokage's pink haired apprentice with amazing strength and fire in her eyes, I knew it was you. I have something I need to tell you. I was hoping you'd be, well, you know." He made a gesture that I interpreted as _taller, older._

"Minor setback." I joked trying to lighten the mood, "It only happened yesterday, we're in the process of reversing it."

"God, you even have bruises." He brushed his hand over my face, "I remember when they would beat us for no reason-"he started, his eyes hardening.

"Stop, I have enough flash backs as it is." I stopped him, "You had something you wanted to tell me?"

"Hidou is alive." He said gravely. My heart dropped and my stomach heaved.

"H-how?" I asked, "I thought we- we all turned on him, so how?" I asked desperately.

"I don't know." He whispered, his voice heavy, "I had to find you make sure you were alright. I heard he got Kaito-kun." A gasp lodged in my throat as I remembered the six year old boy who had been a friend, he had light blue hair and golden eyes and smile that would last for days.

"Got him?" I asked, barley wanting to know the answer.

"Brainwashed. He wants all of us back." Ren said bitterly, "We're his precious experiments."

I shuddered remembering the painful experiments Hidou would put us through, each one worse than the last. And all of them tailored to our 'ability'.

I had vowed never to use the 'power' he had burdened me with. It was powerful and dangerous. I could barely control it when I was younger, in all the test he put us through I ended up destroying the _things_ he put us against.

"If he gets wind that you're trapped in this body, he'll come after you. You were his favourite after all." He spat that out, he despised thinking about the way Hidou had given me 'special treatment'. It meant more beatings, more experiments than the others and Ren, no matter how hard he tried, couldn't stop him from hurting me.

"Your friends are looking for you." He said suddenly his head cocked as though listening to someone whisper in his ear, "I have a feeling if they find me with you, I might be in trouble." He smirked when he said that and giggled.

"I'll be close by, don't worry." He kissed my temple and whispered, "Butterflies are free." In my ear.

A sad smile graced my face as I muttered the same words, they were lyrics from the song we would sing.

And then he was gone.

"Sakura, there you are!" Ino called, running down the small hill. Closely followed by TenTen and Hinata.

"What were you thinking? We thought something happened to you." TenTen said.

"Sorry, I guess I'm used to being an adult and being allowed to wander on my own." I smirked, hoping they wouldn't see how uneasy I was.

"We know but, we promised Naruto and Sasuke we would look after you, what are you doing down here anyway?" the weapons mistress asked, dusting off my dress.

I smiled slightly, "I followed a butterfly."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

I was currently sitting in the Yamanaka's flower shop, it was weird coming in here as a four year old, everything seemed to be a bit more magical that it was as an adult, I guess it was also affected by the way my memories were affecting me.

I half knew what everything was and what things tasted and looked like or used for but another part of me, I'm guessing the actually four year old Sakura was just learning. She had never seen so many flowers before, she'd never had a stuffed toy, and she had never had ice-cream.

But in at the same time, I knew that strawberries and cream was my favourite flavour, I knew what most of the flowers meant (courtesy of Ino) and I had a collection of toys when I had been adopted by the Harunos.

I remembered the day, it was three days after I had been separated from the others, I'd stumbled across a small village, it was nothing special, a few house and about two shops. Some Konoha Ninjas had stopped at the convenience store to pick up some extra food for the trip home when dad spotted me, he told me he thought I was ghost "You were so pale and still." He would say when he told me. They had asked questions about my family and when I told them I didn't have one, he picked me up and carried me home.

His wife, my mum, wasn't able to have children and I remember Dad walking me through the front door of the house telling her I needed a family. She had fallen to her knees and hugged me close, she told me "we're your family" and that was that.

"Sakura-chan?" TenTen asked, she was crouching front of me, her brown eyes scanning my face, "You okay?" I nodded, "Naruto's here to take you home." She smiled.

"Hey Sakura!" The blond said coming up to me and ruffling my hair, "Hinata-chan said you've been quiet since you got back from the market, you okay?"

"M'fine" I mumbled, not quite feeling up to anything, my stomach was still churning with the news Ren gave me.

"Did something happen?" Sasuke asked Ino, glaring slightly.

"Well-She um, - oh customer, hang on Sasuke-kun." She looked visibly relieved when the door chimed, "how may I help you?"

"I'm just browsing." Ren's voice seemed to hang in the air for a moment and I felt my head snap up. I knew my friends must have been looking at me weird but I ignored them, instead I smirked at Ren.

"Is there a girl?" I asked cheekily, and I watched as he supressed a smile.

"Sakura-chan! You can't just ask that, I am so sorry!" Hinata said, stammering over her words.

"No it's fine. There is a girl, actually." He said, a glint appearing in his eyes. _Oh Don't You Dare._

I thought loud enough for him to hear. I knew he would, he was a telepath. He just smirked.

"Describe her, maybe I can pick the right flowers for you!" Ino squealed causing the rest of us to roll our eyes. Ino- The Match Maker.

"Well," he started, staring at me causing Sasuke and Naruto to tense, "She's rather cute, has button nose, green eyes and" I gave him a look that would have sent fear into his very sole if I was my normal age, "A large forehead."

"Oh you cheeky little!" I said as I advanced towards him, but Sasuke picked me up. He was frowning.

"Are you making fun of her?" He asked seriously, his black eyes narrowed. I could feel Naruto puffing up beside me.

"No," Ren smirked, "I quiet like her forehead it means there's something in there."

"Well that a back handed complement." TenTen frowned.

"I don't mind. He's cute." I said the said the last word pointedly, I remember how much it riled him up when he got called cute.

"So childish." He tutted. Ino frowned and flipped her blonde ponytail over her shoulder.

"Well duh, she is a child."

Ren gave Ino a look that said You-think-I'm-an-idiot? "No, that little girl," He pointed at me, "Is Sakura Haruno. Who should be twenty, no?"

"Who are you?" Sasuke growled holding me closer.

"He's a butterfly." I said a smile tugging at my lips when Hinata gasped.

"Is he the reason you ran off early?" She asked putting two and two together.

"Ran off?" Naruto asked looking confused," You ran off? Do you know how dangerous that was?"

"Relax blondie, she was with me. I'd never let anything happen to her." Ren said, an edge to his voice

"I won't ask again, who. Are. You?" Oh, Sasuke was mad. Suddenly I felt mad, how dare everyone start treating me like a child, granted I look like one at the moment and I have been behaving like a four year old but I was a grown woman for crying out loud.

"Put me down." I said icily. Sasuke looked at me in surprise, "Now, Uchiha, We're going to the Hokage's tower." I ordered, "Oh don't look at me like that, you do realise that even though I look four and have childish tendencies at the moment I am still technical twenty?"

I saw Naruto gulp, and whisper, "Who knew a small Sakura could look so scary?" Hinata patted his arm in a comforting manner.

"Call Kakashi. Tell him not to be late." I said as I marched out the door and down the street.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Team 7, Ino, Hinata, TenTen and Ren stood in front of the Hokage's desk (which I was standing on to get some height).

We were waiting for Kakashi-sensei, no doubt he would turn up late the lazy idiot. Sasuke and Naruto were eyeing Ren cautiously, taking in his copper hair and dark blue eyes, the girls whispering among one another glancing between Ren and me.

"So, Kura-Chan, who are we waiting for?" Ren ask lounging against the wall, I felt everyone in the room (Including Hinata) bristle at the way he addressed me so casually.

"Kakashi." I replied my tone clipped, I turned and to look at Tsunade-sama who was looking tired and annoyed. Not a good mix.

"What's going on, Sakura?" She asked her voice exhausted. In that moment the silver haired man I called Sensei slipped in through the window.

"Yo!" He saluted lazily.

"I told you not to be late." I mumbled pinning my gaze on him, he gulped and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"I was helping an old lady cross the road." He started when Naruto yelled 'LIAR'

"Can we get this over with?" Sasuke asked grumpily. Ino nodded, "Yeah, what's going on?"

"I would if everyone shut the hell up." I grumbled my shoulders going slack, I wasn't looking forward to explaining this "I don't really know where to start."

"Start with explaining how you know this boy." Tsunade-sama said motioning towards Ren. I raised my eyes to look at him, taking in his copper hair glinting in the setting sun and his dark blue eyes staring intently back at me and took a deep breath. I started to tell my story.

 _I was in the cupboard where Mama and Papa had told me to hide, they had whispered comforting words as they made a makeshift bed out of the clothes that hung in my new hiding place. It was a game Papa had said, I was to hide and wait until Mama and Papa came back. It didn't sound much fun to me but something in Mama's light blue eyes made me stay put, made me stay quiet._

 _That was the last I saw of them._

 _It could have minute it could have been hours all I remember is the door being ripped open and a large, rough hand grabbing at me. I had struggled, I clawed and screamed and kicked but there was no way a three year old could fight of the bear of a man who had slung me over his should like a sack of potatoes._

 _XxXxXxX_

 _Months had passed since I had been brought to the base of Hidou (he had no last name as far as I knew) and I had become finely tuned to the ways in which I was to act. Never speak out of line, don't make a sound and most importantly do what you're told otherwise you'll never see the light of day again. Not that we saw much of it in the complex anyway. Screams echoed down the hallway and I winced slightly, one of the older children had sworn at a guard, no one knows why he did everyone knew the consequences. He was dragged down to the lockers and we never saw him again._

 _"_ _He's in a better place now." Ren said grimly, he was my saving grace in this hell hole, every night he would tell me stories about the sun, the moon and the stars. Sometimes he would sing, and every so often I would join in. I don't really rember how we wound up together, one day I was alone and the next he was by my side keeping an eye on, putting himself in danger to save my neck. I would forever be grateful._

 _XxXxXxX_

 _It was hard to think that I was almost five, I had been at the complex for over a year. At some point Hidou had deemed me old enough to start experimenting on, I rember thinking_ 'so this is what they do to Ren when they take him off duty' _when they first hooked me up to that horrible machine._

 _I was staring at it right now, the very thing that had caused my bones to feel as if they were on fire. It felt as though it was trying to pull me apart and push me back together in ways that couldn't be possible. Hidou was smiling down at me, his glassy eyes turning silver with sick excitement._

 _"_ _Soon you will be at your very best, little one." He would say patting my head in a sick imitation of affection. Little one was his nickname for me, I was the youngest of his victims and possibly the only girl for I had never seen another female._

 _I gritted my teeth against the heavy hand that lay on my head, my messy pink lock tangled around his fingers as he yanked my head back so he could pour the bitter substance that pretended to be general anaesthetic to 'make the pain more bearable'._

 _He never got the glass to my lips._

 _XxXxXxX_

"We all escaped, we got separated and I wound up in a village where the Harunos found me and brought me to Kohona. And the rest is history." I finished, glancing round the room. Naruto looked like he wanted to rip somebody limb from limb, Sasuke's Sharigan had activated and the girls looked on the verge of tears. Kakashi and Tsunade held a silent rage in their eyes. That was to be expected they were well versed in keeping emotions locked away.

And Ren? Well he looked a little worse for wear, probably because I had dredged up old memories that had been locked safely away for years.

"Hear." Sasuke said roughly shoving a tissue into my hands, I looked at him confused and all he said was "Dry your eyes." I hadn't even known I was crying.

"Why did you never tell me?" Naruto asked, his voice strained, "You know that you can tell me anything Sakura-chan."

"It was apart of my life that I wanted to forget Naruto." I told him, silently praying he would understand.

"I-I understand." He said after a beat, his strong shoulders sagged before he walked over to the desk. His long legs eating up the distance quickly and I was suddenly being hugged by him.

He held me tight to his chest and didn't let go until Shikamaru made himself known.


End file.
